Little Brother
by CDiscord
Summary: After the defeat of Robotnik at the conclusion of "Project Doomsday", Sonic is reminded of his new mission as a Freedom Fighter; being a caring big brother. Sonic and Tails, brotherly fluff. SatAM Universe.


Drabbley thing I wrote last night after watching the pilot episode of SatAM, after finally getting it on DVD. I didn't spend a ton of time on it, so it's not amazing, but I think it's cute. I had to channel my bro fluff obsession out somehow xP Enjoy~

**Story is © to me**

**Sonic, Tails, Bunnie, Sally, Rotor, Dulcy, Antoine, Snively and Dr. Robotnik are © to DIC Entertainment/SEGA**

Nearly a month had gone by since the defeat of the tyrannical Dr. Robotnik by the hands of Sonic and Sally. Sonic could still feel the adrenaline rush return to him when he thought about how he and the girl had erased the mad man's Doomsday Project from existence thanks to the Deep Power Stones. The Freedom Fighters remained in Knothole after Robotnik's defeat, and would remain there indefinitely until the need for a resistance was no longer required. Sonic had, however, brought up a very valid point in this time of celebration-Snively was nowhere to be found, and though there was no sign of him after Doomsday was destroyed, there was also no proof he had been trapped inside and met the same fate as his uncle.

For the moment though, all was well with no sign of the big round guy, or his pointy-nosed partner in crime. Robotropolis was being renovated, because with their dictator gone, the Mobians could now reprogram the robots' grip over the city to restore it to what it once was; with no resistance from Robotnik.

To many it appeared to finally be over, and no one wanted to think of the horrible years again. Robotnik and all his forces were exterminated when Doomsday was destroyed, and now the heroes who saved the planet now had to humbly live out their days in Knothole, until the city was restored, and the Mobian Government and military was built up enough to defend itself.

For some though, reliving the final moments of the war was something that was thrilling to hear. Especially for those who weren't there to experience it first hand.

"Whoa! And then what happened Sonic?" A small brown orange fox gasped, leaning over onto his knees and resting his chin in his hands. He watched his blue hero with big, eccentric eyes.

"Alright, there I was! Sal and I had the power stones, and there were a dozen SWATbots on either side of us. We didn't know what to do, cause we weren't sure if putting the stones together would destroy the entire PLANET, not just Robuttnik's Doomsday machine!"

Tails gasped again, listening in wrapped attention as the blue hedgehog jumped up onto a stump next to his sitting log and smirked widely.

"All of the sudden, I had a stroke of hedgehog genius-put the stones together the other way! So, just as the bots are about to close in on us, we force the stones together, and…" The hedgehog lowered his voice, staring back at the small boy's eyes as he jumped from his stump and made a back flip. "We DICED the place! Zoom; in and out of walls and doors, we shot all around the place like a cannonball. We smashed through Robuttnik's diamond glass dome generator, smashed his bots, walloped his Doomsday pods, and obliterated the factory in less than two minutes!"

"Yeah!" Tails yipped, jumping up in the air and then landing on his butt, tails flopped at his sides. "But what about stinky old Robotnik? Did he escape?"

Sonic sat back down on the stump and leaned in, his face looking serious, yet energetic.

"Well, I dunno bud. The only escape ship I saw was the other freedom fighter's bookin' it out of there, cause me and Sal were seconds away from _leveling_ the place! But I'll tell ya one thing, whether he got out or not, you could hear him yellin' at the top of his lungs as me and Sal turned his Doomsday tower into a pancake!"

"What was he saying?"

Sonic smirked. He had been waiting for the fox boy to ask. He cleared his throat and spoke in a loud, deep growling voice.

"'I HATE THAT HEDGEHOG! He's so much more handsome than me! Curse you Sonic and your amazing looks! SNIVELY, WHERE ARE YOU! I NEED YOU TO DOUSE MY CROMEDOME WITH HAIR GROWTH ELIXIR!'"

The little fox burst out in a series of giggling and fell off his log, clutching his hands to his furry stomach and taking a deep breathe.

"Haha, that's not what he said! You're fibbing, Sonic!" Tails piped up, calling the blue blur out, even though he found the hedgehog's version funnier than anything the real Robotnik might have said. Sonic crossed his arms and legs, cocking one eyebrow and scoffing.

"Oh yeah big guy? What proof do you have, you weren't even there." Sonic smirked, crossing his arms and giving Tails a 'nana, I won!' wink. "You weren't there, how do you know what Robuttnik's final words were? You don't think, in his last moments, he confessed how jealous he was of The Hedgehog Hunk's smokin' good looks?"

"You're daydreaming yet again, Sonic Hedgehog. I was there, and I can tell you he said nothing of the sort, Tails. Your brother is full of it."

Sally Acorn stepped out from her large straw hut, carrying a large piece of machinery cradle style in her arms. She was glancing at Sonic with a disapproving, yet playful look. She watched Tails jump up from the bright green grass, and put his gloved hands to the side of his fuzzy face, and then blow a big, fat raspberry at the blue blur.

"Ha! I didn't think so, you can't fool me Sonic! It was pretty funny, but there's no _way_ Robotnik would say anything like that!"

Sonic all at once stood up straight from his log, and rubbed his hands up his arms as if he were pulling up imaginary sleeves. The little fox backed up a little, cautiously watching and waiting. Had he gone a bit too far?...no, instead, Sonic's mischievous grin returned to his face and he walked around the small stone fire pit, making his way slowly towards the brown orange fox boy.

"Alright then big guy, if you don't believe me, then I'll just have to _convince_ you, won't I?"

Tails' eyes widened a little, and he felt his heart skip a beat as the older boy walked towards him still, a now almost treacherous smirk now playing around his lips. The fox clenched his fists and his twin appendages began to slowly twist and whirl behind him, getting ready to either tackle Sonic, or run away, depending on what was needed.

"W-What do you mean 'convince'?" Tails asked worriedly.

Sonic's almost evil appearance didn't leave him. He held his hands in front of his chest, outstretched, and without saying a word, began to wiggle his fingers. Tails' little triangular ears flattened, and he instinctively grinned, though he turned his head to face Sally while keeping his eyes glued to Sonic's approaching fingers.

"A-Aunt Sally!" He whimpered out, slowly backing away towards the playing field with Sonic quick on the approach.

"Yes, hon?" Sally called, completely preoccupied with helping Bunnie set up the piece of equipment right outside her hut.

"S-Sonic's gonna get me!" Tails called out again, before he gasped and yelped, barely flying up and out of the way just in the nick of time, as Sonic dove for the boy's legs. The fox turned tails and began to fly off around the other side of the huts, leaving Sonic to leap to his feet.

"Come back here, bud! I just wanna talk!" Sonic yelled, his feet revving into an oval shaped blur. A second later, he was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving nothing but a stream cloud of dust in his wake.

"Ooof!" Bunnie grumbled, covering her eyes as the shock wave of wind and dust from the hedgehog's acceleration consumed her and Sally for the briefest of moments. She began to rub her eyes, and then blinked in confusion, looking around and seeing an orange and blue blur zipping around the far corner of Knothole, quickly rounding the side and coming back.

"Why I do declare Sally girl, those two are more hippity and hoppity than I was as a little girl." She said sweetly, brushing her ears of any dirt and dust that may have gotten lodged in the folds of them.

"Well, it's certainly nothing new, Sonic's been cooped up all month, he's gotta get his energy out somehow." Sally said, leaning down and plugging in NICOLE to the base of the machine, and then pressing a few commands.

Bunnie was standing with her arms crossed, watching with a satisfied smile as Sonic sped after Tails continuously around the perimeter of Knothole. Even when the fox boy zigzagged through the trees, the blue hedgehog was right behind him, the thrill of the chase keeping him going. Meanwhile, the fear of being tickled senseless keeping Tails on the run.

"Well, Tails is certainly doin' a grand old job of keeping away. But it looks like the Sugarhog is purposely just going fast enough to keep up. Whaddya think Sal, you think their playin' tag?"

Sally punched in a few more commands, and then pulled NICOLE from the machine, placing her back in her vest pocket and then typing away on the machine's external keyboard.

"No, I think Sonic is trying to tickle him. Tails didn't believe Sonic when he made a joke about Robotnik, and what his final words were before Doomsday was destroyed." Sally explained with very little interest or emotion, her mind completely focused on her work at the moment.

"Well that's no reason to go chasin' him like that, is it." Bunnie said, watching Tails fly his way up onto the highest branch of a tree. She could still hear them loud and clear despite their considerable distance.

_"Haha, can't get me now, huh Sonic?"_

_"Keep those eyes peeled little bro, the hedgehog is about to dazzle!"_

After backing up, Sonic shot up the tree like a blue bullet, and his ascension forced Tails from his perch. The hedgehog almost got a hold of the boy's shoe, but Tails flew back into the upper canopy of the thick elm trees just in time.

"Sonic hardly needs a reason at all to do most of the things he does." Sally said, smiling as she finally turned from her work and joined Bunnie in observing the two boys play. "Especially with Tails."

"Whaddya mean, Sally girl?"

"Sonic and Tails have a very special relationship, Bunnie. Tails not only idolizes Sonic, but he practically worships the ground Sonic walks on. He wants to be just like him, and since Sonic is his greatest role-model, he strives to mimic everything he does. That's also why Tails prefers it when Sonic is the one who trains him."

Bunnie pulled her ear out of her face and smiled, turning to Sally with a curious look on her face.

"I recon I feel a little out of the loop, I mean, I knew the Sugarhog and Tails are best friends, but-"

"Oh, they're much more than best friends, Bunnie." Sally said softly, her eyes staring off into the distance, keeping up with Sonic as he leapt from tree to tree, perusing the little fox every step of the way. "They're brothers, and brothers as close as brothers can be. Sonic is self-centered and egocentric at the worst of times, but around Tails, he's gentle and always playful and kind. And Tails, is independent and loves to do things himself when he thinks he is able, but around Sonic, he almost prefers to let Sonic take the lead, and cheer him on from the sidelines. It's as if he's trying to learn more on how to be like him, so that one day when he can take the lead and Sonic can cheer him on."

"…My stars, I never knew how deep their relationship went, Sal. That's gotta be the darnest thing I've heard in a long while." Bunnie said, awestruck and finding herself deeply contemplating the two boys, as they finally rounded the end of the perimeter, and began to race back straight towards the pair of huts.

"Aunt Bunnie! Aunt Sally! Heeelp!" Tails called, giggling as he was finally tackled from behind by a weight twice as heavy as himself. Sonic wrestled with the boy playfully in the grass, chuckling as Tails laughed happily, his tails wagging as he tried to push the older boy off of him.

"Sorry hun, you gotta fight your own battles when it comes to Sonic." Sally chuckled, sitting down on the porch and letting her legs dangle off the edge. Bunnie joined her, and together they watched Sonic pin the fox cub to his back and poke his nose.

"So little bro, remind me again what Robuttnik's final words were?" Sonic asked playfully.

Tails could tell by how locked Sonic's arms were that he would have no chance of squirming his way out of the boy's grip. As Sonic poked his nose, he made a cocky face, clenched his eyes, and then gave him another raspberry.

"You're just askin' for it, Tails!" Bunnie laughed.

"Alright then big guy, I guess the chase wasn't enough to convince you…maybe this'll help!"

Smirking, Sonic dove his fingers into the fox's underarms, and from there began to wriggle them along the boy's sides and across his tummy. He tickled him all over, carefully seeing what got him the most response, and then exploiting the fox's most ticklish spots.

"Aahahahaha! N-No Sonic, come on! I was ahahaha only j-joking!" Tails giggled uncontrollably, his tails twitching madly at his sides and his entire body trying to wriggle out of range from the older boy's tickling fingers. Sonic only rolled his eyes and chuckled along with him, dragging his fingers up the boy's furry chest and seeing how much giggling he could get from going after the front of Tails' neck.

"Nu uh, too late for that little bro! You had your chance and blew it sky high!"

The little fox pleaded and pleaded, his muzzle turning red from laughter, and his tummy feeling like it was being gently squeezed as the combination of his shortage of breathe, and Sonic's tickling fingers made him squirm in desperation for freedom.

Easily pinning the boy by sitting on his legs, Sonic began to whistle a tune and look at his wrist, faking boredom, as he trailed a finger back down the fox's tummy, and started to probe his shallow belly button. Tails squeaked and yelped, but still defiantly withstood the tickle torture.

"All ya gotta do is say the word, little bro, and it'll stop." Sonic teased, focusing on the kit's navel for a short while before focusing his attention back to his sides.

"EEEEEP! Ahahaha! No, I can t-take it! No way can you make me talk, big bro!"

"Is that a challenge, big guy?" Sonic jeered, quickly running his fingers back up the kit's sides and prying his underarms open, exposing them for the hedgehog once more.

By now, there were more watching the two boys play than just Sally and Bunnie. Rotor was chuckling humbly from his workshop window only a few huts down, looking up to watch every now and then between absorbing himself in his latest invention. Dulcy was watching from her overly-large hut, her long neck sticking out the window and making loud 'awwwww!'s every now and then. Then of course, there was Antoine, bumbling in confusion as he watched from the lookout tower at the edge of the perimeter.

"Ahahahahaha! S-Sonic!" Tails begged, finally reaching his limit as the boy altered between his sides, his tummy and his underarms.

"…Alright bud, as a reward for stickin' it out, I'll let you off the hook for now." Sonic said, sitting up and getting off of the fox's legs. He watched the fox boy catch his breathe, look at Sonic with large affectionate eyes for a moment, and then giggle as he jumped forward, and wrapped his arms around the hedgehog's middle. Taken aback by the soft fuzzy face burrowing into his stomach, Sonic fell backwards into a sitting position.

The chorus of "awwwwww"'s that followed made Sonic himself became red in the cheeks, as the fox clung to the hedgehog and closed his eyes, sticking his tongue out a little goofily as Sonic stammered and tried to pry him off as gently as he could manage. He had no avail.

"Looks like you're gonna be stuck there for a little while, Sugarhog." Bunnie winked, as she and Sally got up. After looking over the adorable moment for a few more seconds, turned their attention back to the towering invention on Sally's doorstep.

Sonic was left to cease in his attempts to try and to pry Tails from him, and instead simply sat there, deciding to let the boy have this moment with him as he began to ruffle Tails' hair.

"Hey come on bud, you know Sal is the one for the mushy stuff, I'm no good at it!" Sonic chuckled, hearing a series of muffled giggles from the ball of fur in his lap in response. Sonic gripped a hold of the fox's back and violently shook his own body back and forth, making the fox spin and whirl and become dizzy there in his lap-it was a bit rough, but Tails laughed the entire time. Sonic laughed right along with him.

"Well, maybe I can do a _little_ bit."

Sonic remained quiet after that, and began to stroke the boy's hair, getting an instant feel for Tails becoming even more calm and relaxed while he continued to cling to his older brother's soft fur. Sonic was soon finding that staying still for the sake of the little fox didn't irritate his innate need to move and have constant motion. It was almost as if his body calmed down just when it came to the important times, just like this one.

Slowly the cobalt hedgehog felt the fox boy's breathing grow shallower and shallower, until he was almost certain he had fallen asleep. Sonic stayed cautious and waited a little while longer even so, waiting till he was certain, before he forced his body out of it's position.

"Alright, bed time." He said softly, carefully picking up the fox and, without waking the boy, carried him into his small hut on the edge of the tiny hidden village.

The hedgehog had a heck of a time trying to open the door while trying to keep Tails leveled on his shoulder, but when he finally managed, he gave a sign a relief and walked inside. As Sonic looked around, he chuckled. Tails' hut was in pristine order. Everything was clean and in it's place. Just like Antoine, but without the annoying factor.

Sonic's eyes drifted around the room some more while he stood there holding the fox. By Tails' bed was a picture frame of him and Sonic, and another of him and Sally. In the first picture, Sonic was giving the fox a noogie while they waited for the camera to flash; Tails was laughing and trying to get himself free of the attack on his hair, and Sonic had his forever famous mischievous grin.

After he laid the fox on his bed, and put the covers over him, Sonic just watched the young freedom fighter with his deep emerald eyes, which glowed in the dimly light room. The hedgehog smiled warmly, and put a hand on the fox boy's forehead as he snoozed peacefully, and gave a shallow groan before turning onto his side and holding the blanket close to him.

"I dunno if Robuttnik is completely gone yet, bud. But whether we're free yet or not little bro, I'm always gonna be there for you. You can count on it."

After removing his hand carefully, the hedgehog closed the glass windows of the fox's hut to cut off the whistling cold wind from outside and then silently walked out, shutting the door behind him.


End file.
